[toast0]

Networking events aren't great, because most of the people who go to them don't have great networks. Otherwise, they wouldn't go to the networking event.

IMHO, networking is good for finding job opportunities and candidates you might not have found otherwise. And a good recomendation can sometimes get you past a resume screening, which is helpful when your resume isn't well tuned to the jobs you want. You've still got to pass the interview, probably.

Again, IMHO, it would be better to focus on intentionally networking with your organic network than developing an artificial network.

Finding contact information for people you enjoyed working with and sending them a message like. "Hey X, I enjoyed working with you at $company, I was wondering what you're up to now and if there's any openings? ktnxbye" Take notes and pass along news about openings or interest in moving that you think are relevant to others. When you have notes, you can ask questions like how's it going at company you last heard they were working... and it feels more connected and less forced. If you're not actively searching for new work, still try to still put in the effort to reach out to people you'll want to ask when you do search. Probably between once a year and once every 5 years is good to keep contacts up to date.

Start by sending to people you actually enjoyed working with and/or think did good work, and increase the scope until you're messaging the people you were surprised managed to get hired -- chances are they managed to get hired somewhere else and that place must not have high standards ;)